World Homeless Day campaign features real stories of rough sleeping

P3 is launching a social media and poster campaign for World Homeless Day (Tuesday 10 October) to raise awareness for the rising issue of homelessness across the UK.

Through a series of video slideshows like the one above, P3 street outreach staff and some of the people they have supported are pictured in known rough sleeping sites, holding up cardboard placards featuring real-life accounts of homelessness. The images aim to dispel some of the myths around homelessness and highlight the fact that there is no one reason why people find themselves without a home.

Supporting people to change their lives

The powerful concluding story features a man who P3 supported after finding him rough sleeping in a park in Derbyshire. Outreach Worker Helen Greenan explained more:

“Due to rent arrears and difficulties with previous accommodation, Chris* was sleeping outside with all his belongings in a tiny tent. P3’s Derbyshire Outreach Team (DOT) supported him in the park and attended an interview which enabled him to be accepted into short-term accommodation. He was kitted out with clothing, food and toiletries and he was delighted to be able to have a bath! Two months later, Chris is now eating properly and managing his money. He seems genuinely settled and totally different from when we first met him.”

There have been recent reports that homelessness across the UK has increased by 60% since the start of the decade, with cuts to local social budgets and changes to the welfare system reported as contributing to the rising problem.

Tell Street Outreach if you see someone sleeping rough

Jonny Goldsmith, Operations Manager for Lincolnshire and head of the Street Outreach group at P3 said:

“Our Street Outreach services exist to support some of the most vulnerable people in the communities in which we work. The teams go out in the early hours of the morning to make contact with people – whom often through no fault of their own have found themselves forced to sleep on the streets – and will offer advice and advocacy to help people away from the dangers of rough sleeping as quickly and as safely as possible.

However, we can’t do it alone! That is why on World Homelessness Day we are calling on the public to contact us if they see someone rough sleeping in any of the areas we work in, that way enabling us to direct our support to those most in need.”

P3 operates street outreach services in Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton, Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire and Cheshire. To find your nearest service, click here.